Population

47,470,969 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 22% (male 5,471,520; female 4,867,688)
15-64 years: 71% (male 17,155,401; female 16,662,227)
65 years and over: 7% (male 1,274,943; female 2,039,190) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.93% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 15.12 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 5.85 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.13 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.12 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 7.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 74.43 years
male: 70.75 years
female: 78.54 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.72 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Major Cities

• Seoul: 10.4 million
• Busan: 3.9 million
• Incheon: 2.9 million
• Daegu: 2.65 million
• Daejeon: 1.48 million
• Gwangju: 1.38 million
• Ulsan: 1.15 million.

Urbanites: 85% of population

The above figures are estimates for the year 2000.

Nationality

noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean

Ethnic groups

homogeneous: Koreans (except for about 100,000 Chinese — especially those who came from other parts of Asia other than China, Hong Kong, and Macau, e.g. Japan, Malaysia, India, and Philippines.). There are migrant workers from China, the Philippines and Malaysia, and in the main cities, particularly Seoul, there is a small number of foreigners related to business and education. There are also some 37,000 United States military personnel.

Religions

• Nonreligious: 35.0%
• Christian: 28.7%
  • Protestant: 36.3%
    • Presbyterian: 16.4%
    • Pentecostal: 3.7%
    • Methodist: 2.9%
    • Baptist: 1.5%
    • Other Protestant: 11.8% (many independent congregations)
  • Roman Catholic: 8.1%
  • Marginal Christian: 3.8% (including the Unification Church)
  • Other Christian: 1.2%
• Buddhist: 23.9%
• Indigenous religions: 8.0% (including Shamanists, Chondogyo, Confucianists and others).
• Other: 1.4%

NOTE: The Christian denominational figures add up to considerably more than the total number of Christians due to widespread dual membership and unrecorded transferal of membership, especially within Protestant bodies. This probably accounts for the almost certainly inflated statistics published in some circles, purporting to show that around 50 percent of South Koreans are Christians.

It should also be noted that although self-styled Confucianists are few, the great majority of South Koreans, irrespective of their formal religious affiliation, are strougly influenced by Confucian concepts.

Languages

Korean; English widely taught in junior high and high school

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 100% (2000 figures)

See also

• South Korea
• List of Korea-related topics